Citrus Greening in Organic and Food Insecurity Higher

**As an organic citrus grower and packer in Ventura County, John Wise has long recognized the threat of the Asian citrus psyllid to his business and livelihood.

The threat has become greater now that part of his region is under quarantine as state ag officials continue to find more residential citrus trees infected with citrus greening disease, a fatal bacterial infection.

For organic citrus growers, there remain few effective treatment options approved for organic production.

**Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack previewed the Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards final rule.

USDA says the new rule establishes clear, strong and consistent standards for organic livestock and poultry production, levels the playing field for organic livestock producers and promotes fairer, more competitive markets for their products, while providing consumers with more transparency.

Vilsack says, "USDA is creating a fairer, more competitive and transparent food system."

**New research from USDA finds that in 2022, 12.8% of U.S. households were food insecure at some time during the year.

The prevalence of food insecurity in 22 was significantly higher than the 10.2% recorded in 2021 and 10.5% in 2020.

The 22 prevalence of VERY LOW food security was 5.1%, significantly higher than the 3.8% in 2021 and the 3.9% in 2020.